Waltonwood at Cherry Hill

My parents have lived there for several years. It was always a safe place for them however more and more of the dedicated staff have left. I don’t feel that sense of caring and looking out for my parents is there anymore.

My mother moved here here three years. If we were looking now, we would not choose them. The management is terrible and disrespects the residents. Continual staff turn over. No resolution comes to any of our concerns lodged with the corporation.

Why Waltonwood –Cherry Hill? If you’re thinking about considering the possibility of entertaining the notion of maybe checking out some retirement facilities, what criteria (besides “vibes”) will you apply to make a decision? Here’s a handy checklist, the one my wife and I utilized when we were scoping out candidate-places in Wyoming, Arizona, and Michigan: (1) the staff; (2) food; (3) safety; (4) commodious apartments; (5) amenities; (6) activities; (7) location; (8) does it hug you? Let’s examine these, in alphabetical order: (1) Activities. At Waltonwood, you have dozens of choices – from card playing and bingo, physical exercises with a trained leader, movies, TED talks, arm-chair videos, hikes in the woods, craft projects, and others. The best component is that no one knocks on your door and yells “everyone out for volleyball.” Every week Management hands out a list of goings-on, but there’s no pressure to do any of them. (2) Amenities. Waltonwood has a comfortable library; a genuine movie theatre (six films a week); a billiards room; a fitness center with nine machines; two lounges, an arts&crafts room; a wine&snack room; a furnished guest suite, two well-maintained, interior courtyards; and its own post office . (3) Commodious apartments. Waltonwood offers 10 different apartment models. All of them have a living room, a kitchen with up-to-date appliances, one or two bedrooms, one or two large shower-bathrooms, and a balcony for those on the upper floors (patio doors for those on the first floor). Just about all of us have had to downsize, and we want to feel like we have adequate space. In a few facilities we visited the living spaces felt claustrophobic, but at Waltonwood, your apartment is a comfortable home. There are full-time, helpful maintenance employees to make repairs plus a housekeeping crew to clean our apartments bi-weekly. Both are part of the package. (4) Food. Your rent includes breakfast and dinner, and you have ample and nutritious choices every day (lunches are available for extra. Other facilities we visited provided three meals a day, but residents whom we interviewed complained that they felt chained to the building all day long). I am one of the world’s pickiest eaters (ask my wife); During the tours of the dozen or so retirement facilities we visited, I invariably asked the Head Chef if he or she could accommodate my culinary peculiarities. Most said, “Ssorry, not possible.” The Head Chef at Waltonwood answered “no problem!” She has kept her word. (5) Huggability. Some real estate agents ask their buyer clients if a house they are checking out “hugs”them. That’s the vibes criterion. Buyers who answer in the negative never buy the house. Analagously, some retirement facilitiies you might tour will turn you off or feel creepy according to whatever standard by which you judge a place you have never been before. Waltonwood-Cherry Hill will hug you. (6) Location. Almost all retirement facility-hunters want a place that is close to their adult children and grandchildren. So, you’re looking in southeast Michigan because you have family nearby. That’s a given. When we moved from Wyoming, we were sure we wanted to live in Ann Arbor. Half-way between Ann Arbor and Detroit, however, Canton is serendipitously handy. Our dentist and dermatologist are in walking distance from Waltonwood, and a physician or nurse-practitioner will make house calls. The beautiful Canton Township Library is a seven-minute ride, and the recreation center is a literal stone’s throw from the library. Major grocery stores and big box stores are nearby, as are parks and bike trails. If you don’t have wheels, Waltonwood provides jitney bus service to any place you want to go within 10 miles. (7) Safety. (a) No one from the outside gets into Waltonwood without signing in at the concierge desk and having his or her temperature taken (during Covid, anyway); (b) each Waltonwood resident is issued a panic button to wear as a bracelet or necklace; c) There are no bathtubs (no one can fall); d) Neither smoking nor guns are allowed anywhere on the campus; e) Management assigns each resident a key to lock his or her own apartment, and all employees are trained to respect residents’ privacy;. f) Each apartment has a “red button”for the residents to push each morning, just to let Management know that we’re okay. (8) Staff. “Staff” is last in alphabetical order, but note that it holds the first position in the paragraph near the beginning of this essay setting forth the eight criteria. All of the other seven criteria lack vitality and stamina without the right staff. The Waltonwood staff (they like to be called “associates”) are caring, competent, energetic, good-humored, and exceptional. Before I retired, I was an employment law attorney, and I came to know how difficult it is for any business organization to maintain an inner harmony among its workforce. I am continually, pleasantly surprised at how well the gears mesh here. The staff have been selected precisely because they have the right personalities to be able to respond affirmatively and cheerfully to the needs and requests of over 100 unique, senior citizens. The associates and managers are well trained, and they consistently bend over backwards to make life as comfortable as possible for residents, seven days a week. (9) Price.. Of course there is also an unlisted, ninth criterion: Price. Everyone has to balance the advantages of each possible candidate-place with one’s ability to afford it. With Retirement facilities, one should remember, you really do get what you pay for.

Waltonwood at Cherry Hill is very clean. Even though it's independent living, they have an agency for assistance in-house, which works very nicely for us since one parent doesn't need help while the other one does. The staff is very friendly and they obviously want it to be a success, so they're always available. The customer service is good, the grounds and gardens are lovely. The place is very well-kept and centrally located. It looks like they have a lot of activities for the residents. The pricing is certainly more affordable than some of the ones we've visited.